In the Security State Republic, Democracy Is Versatile
by MOKSHA B. TODD, B.A. Political Science, University of Texas at Arlington
Copyright © 2005 by Moksha B. Todd
Democracy and freedom are often equated with the United States of America in the modern world. The word democracy comes from Greek meaning “people rule.” It is often not known, however, that democracy can function to varying degrees in a number of political systems.
The Third Reich was a capitalist democracy at its beginning. Hitler was elected by the voters to the office of Chancellor and passed his legislation through the Reichstag, the German congress.
Many in America think that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. While it is true that they function well together, it is also true that one is a political system (democracy) and the other is an economic system (capitalism). Both modern political scientists and economists accept this model.
Democracy has functioned in various societies in history. Well known is the democracy established in ancient Athens. It was a system that allowed general male suffrage for the upper classes. The masses were not part of its function as today. Athens actually had two eras of democracy — the first much more liberal than the second.
Another example of a democracy comes to us from ancient Rome. The Roman republic was one that included all males’ right to suffrage. It only allowed the landowners to run for office in the Senate. The emperors were able to retain power by providing grain, holidays, and celebrations for the masses. Once Julius Caesar had manipulated the voters into granting him the office of Dictator for Life, the democracy began changing. The elected representatives lost more and more power as the voters gave a single person power.
Weimar Germany was a democracy that evolved into a dictatorship. While Hitler never won a majority of votes, he was able to manipulate the system and take control over it. Those who threw in with him came from many backgrounds, but the most powerful of his allies were the industrialists. Nazi Germany retained capitalism while giving up democracy.
Americans assume that their democracy cannot go the way of those of the past and to some degree they are right. The Constitution guarantees the right to vote, so the representative form of government is virtually guaranteed to continue for some time. But the right to vote does not guarantee freedom.
The Unites States is currently at a crossroads. We have historically grown by rationally acknowledging that wrongs must be righted. For example, we outlawed slavery, extended voting rights to all, and generally moved forward toward a more inclusive society. But we are moving dangerously close to what I call The Security State Republic.
The Security State Republic (SSR) is a democracy where the voters slowly allow the government to extend its power beyond previously stated boundaries. It is a democracy in that the lawmakers are elected by the people to be their representatives. (A republic is a democracy in which the people are represented by elected officials rather than directly voting on issues.)
The SSR slowly evolves out of the fear that the voters have of a threat — either real or perceived. In the SSR the government acts much as Big Brother’s government in Orwell’s 1984. It uses sloganeering and repeats lies over and over. It makes use of Hitler’s concept of “the great lie.” “The great lie” concept says that if you tell a lie over and over, the people will eventually believe it.
The SSR in the United States today uses the concept of the great lie to further its invasion of the individual. Sloganeering is used by our government to convince us and to deflect us from the truth. “Family values,” “Right to life,” “Pro-life,” “Stay the course,” “Freedom,” and “God told me…” are all slogans tossed about by leaders today. In the United States today children are used as the reason we must give more power to the government. “Protect the children” is a slogan used so often that the people believe the big lie that the government’s needs are at least equal to, and possibly superior to, the needs of the people at large.
In the SSR the police are revered as heroes simply because they are police officers. Sports figures are told they are role models, and when they turn out to be humans with human frailties they are demonized as bad examples for children.
In the SSR violence is spoken against but supported behind the scenes. Natural behaviors such as sex are subdued while natural tendencies toward violence are nurtured. Violent video games are bought for 9- and 10-year-olds, but if the games also include sexual content they are vilified. Guns are praised and peace is considered aberrant. War is glorified and the rule of international law is ignored unless it is useful to the SSR.
In the SSR the majority is encouraged to change or ignore those who disagree. Religious freedom is manipulated into a fight between good forces and bad, with the government defining which is which. The words “liberal” and “conservative” have become value-laden terms, with “liberal” being bad and “conservative” being good.
In the SSR the elected representatives pass laws which extend the power of the government a little bit at a time. Each tiny step toward authoritarian government is passed as necessary for safety. In New York City the police randomly search people entering the subways. Due to the recent bombings in the London subway, the American government tells the public the searches are for the safety of everyone. As the public becomes used to the “necessary” invasion of their privacy, the SSR extends its arms into more areas.
The evolution of the SSR is easily identifiable when all incremental movements toward it are strung together. Cameras throughout the society initially caused an outcry, but we eventually got used to them. “Profiling” used to be considered a form of discrimination dependent on perceived stereotypes of a group. Now it is an accepted legal concept. Freedom of mobility has always been a given in the United States. But on August 3, 2005 the people of Gainsville, Texas, who lived hundreds of yards from a resort called the Gaylord where President Bush was speaking, were told they could not go onto their own back porches and were threatened with arrest by the Secret Service if they did. American citizens have been held as “material witnesses” in the fight against terrorism, although the Constitution specifically disallows such imprisonment.
The SSR extends its tentacles into education. The drug education program DARE teaches children to help their “sick” parents by turning them in to a police officer or teacher if they have a bong. It teaches the young half-truths about our history and is very selective in presenting the truth. Black children are continually reminded that their ancestors were slaves, but are not told that the nation’s wealth was built from the Black person’s labor. Mexican children are taught about their ancestors but are not taught that the Maya had the concept of zero long before the Western nations. (The concept of zero must be understood before any higher mathematics are possible.)
The SSR appears to respect the Constitutional freedom of religion. Its initiators pay lip service to the concept while citing their individual religious beliefs as superior to others’ beliefs. They tell the big lie that the United States was founded on Christian principles, when the truth is that it was founded on humanistic principles, which appear in many religions and philosophies.
The SSR grows as the fears of the population grow. The government continually cites threats of attack but days later say they were wrong about it. This increases the fear the public has of being attacked which feeds the extension of the SSR.
The Security State Republic works well with representative government. It often reminds the public of its blessings of freedom. In Mein Kampf Hitler said the best way to control the masses is to first convince them they are free…. Then you are free to manipulate that belief. The SSR plays on this philosophy by reminding the American people that they are free through use of slogans.
Democracy can function well in this model. Democracy in and of itself does not make people free. In the end, that responsibility falls to the people themselves. If they remain vigilant and speak out about injustices of the government, it continues to extend humanistic values to more and more people. If the people defer to the government more than holding it in check the SSR slowly replaces the pluralistic society with one superior, over riding culture with no respect for any but those who comply with the majority. Remember Thomas Jefferson’s concern about “the tyranny of the masses.” The SSR is the personification of his concern
by MOKSHA B. TODD, B.A. Political Science, University of Texas at Arlington
Copyright © 2005 by Moksha B. Todd
Democracy and freedom are often equated with the United States of America in the modern world. The word democracy comes from Greek meaning “people rule.” It is often not known, however, that democracy can function to varying degrees in a number of political systems.
The Third Reich was a capitalist democracy at its beginning. Hitler was elected by the voters to the office of Chancellor and passed his legislation through the Reichstag, the German congress.
Many in America think that capitalism and democracy go hand in hand. While it is true that they function well together, it is also true that one is a political system (democracy) and the other is an economic system (capitalism). Both modern political scientists and economists accept this model.
Democracy has functioned in various societies in history. Well known is the democracy established in ancient Athens. It was a system that allowed general male suffrage for the upper classes. The masses were not part of its function as today. Athens actually had two eras of democracy — the first much more liberal than the second.
Another example of a democracy comes to us from ancient Rome. The Roman republic was one that included all males’ right to suffrage. It only allowed the landowners to run for office in the Senate. The emperors were able to retain power by providing grain, holidays, and celebrations for the masses. Once Julius Caesar had manipulated the voters into granting him the office of Dictator for Life, the democracy began changing. The elected representatives lost more and more power as the voters gave a single person power.
Weimar Germany was a democracy that evolved into a dictatorship. While Hitler never won a majority of votes, he was able to manipulate the system and take control over it. Those who threw in with him came from many backgrounds, but the most powerful of his allies were the industrialists. Nazi Germany retained capitalism while giving up democracy.
Americans assume that their democracy cannot go the way of those of the past and to some degree they are right. The Constitution guarantees the right to vote, so the representative form of government is virtually guaranteed to continue for some time. But the right to vote does not guarantee freedom.
The Unites States is currently at a crossroads. We have historically grown by rationally acknowledging that wrongs must be righted. For example, we outlawed slavery, extended voting rights to all, and generally moved forward toward a more inclusive society. But we are moving dangerously close to what I call The Security State Republic.
The Security State Republic (SSR) is a democracy where the voters slowly allow the government to extend its power beyond previously stated boundaries. It is a democracy in that the lawmakers are elected by the people to be their representatives. (A republic is a democracy in which the people are represented by elected officials rather than directly voting on issues.)
The SSR slowly evolves out of the fear that the voters have of a threat — either real or perceived. In the SSR the government acts much as Big Brother’s government in Orwell’s 1984. It uses sloganeering and repeats lies over and over. It makes use of Hitler’s concept of “the great lie.” “The great lie” concept says that if you tell a lie over and over, the people will eventually believe it.
The SSR in the United States today uses the concept of the great lie to further its invasion of the individual. Sloganeering is used by our government to convince us and to deflect us from the truth. “Family values,” “Right to life,” “Pro-life,” “Stay the course,” “Freedom,” and “God told me…” are all slogans tossed about by leaders today. In the United States today children are used as the reason we must give more power to the government. “Protect the children” is a slogan used so often that the people believe the big lie that the government’s needs are at least equal to, and possibly superior to, the needs of the people at large.
In the SSR the police are revered as heroes simply because they are police officers. Sports figures are told they are role models, and when they turn out to be humans with human frailties they are demonized as bad examples for children.
In the SSR violence is spoken against but supported behind the scenes. Natural behaviors such as sex are subdued while natural tendencies toward violence are nurtured. Violent video games are bought for 9- and 10-year-olds, but if the games also include sexual content they are vilified. Guns are praised and peace is considered aberrant. War is glorified and the rule of international law is ignored unless it is useful to the SSR.
In the SSR the majority is encouraged to change or ignore those who disagree. Religious freedom is manipulated into a fight between good forces and bad, with the government defining which is which. The words “liberal” and “conservative” have become value-laden terms, with “liberal” being bad and “conservative” being good.
In the SSR the elected representatives pass laws which extend the power of the government a little bit at a time. Each tiny step toward authoritarian government is passed as necessary for safety. In New York City the police randomly search people entering the subways. Due to the recent bombings in the London subway, the American government tells the public the searches are for the safety of everyone. As the public becomes used to the “necessary” invasion of their privacy, the SSR extends its arms into more areas.
The evolution of the SSR is easily identifiable when all incremental movements toward it are strung together. Cameras throughout the society initially caused an outcry, but we eventually got used to them. “Profiling” used to be considered a form of discrimination dependent on perceived stereotypes of a group. Now it is an accepted legal concept. Freedom of mobility has always been a given in the United States. But on August 3, 2005 the people of Gainsville, Texas, who lived hundreds of yards from a resort called the Gaylord where President Bush was speaking, were told they could not go onto their own back porches and were threatened with arrest by the Secret Service if they did. American citizens have been held as “material witnesses” in the fight against terrorism, although the Constitution specifically disallows such imprisonment.
The SSR extends its tentacles into education. The drug education program DARE teaches children to help their “sick” parents by turning them in to a police officer or teacher if they have a bong. It teaches the young half-truths about our history and is very selective in presenting the truth. Black children are continually reminded that their ancestors were slaves, but are not told that the nation’s wealth was built from the Black person’s labor. Mexican children are taught about their ancestors but are not taught that the Maya had the concept of zero long before the Western nations. (The concept of zero must be understood before any higher mathematics are possible.)
The SSR appears to respect the Constitutional freedom of religion. Its initiators pay lip service to the concept while citing their individual religious beliefs as superior to others’ beliefs. They tell the big lie that the United States was founded on Christian principles, when the truth is that it was founded on humanistic principles, which appear in many religions and philosophies.
The SSR grows as the fears of the population grow. The government continually cites threats of attack but days later say they were wrong about it. This increases the fear the public has of being attacked which feeds the extension of the SSR.
The Security State Republic works well with representative government. It often reminds the public of its blessings of freedom. In Mein Kampf Hitler said the best way to control the masses is to first convince them they are free…. Then you are free to manipulate that belief. The SSR plays on this philosophy by reminding the American people that they are free through use of slogans.
Democracy can function well in this model. Democracy in and of itself does not make people free. In the end, that responsibility falls to the people themselves. If they remain vigilant and speak out about injustices of the government, it continues to extend humanistic values to more and more people. If the people defer to the government more than holding it in check the SSR slowly replaces the pluralistic society with one superior, over riding culture with no respect for any but those who comply with the majority. Remember Thomas Jefferson’s concern about “the tyranny of the masses.” The SSR is the personification of his concern
posted by moksha b. todd at 4:50 PM
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